4/1/99

Students Hold "Homeless Awareness Sleepout"

Dr. Melinda Dukes, far right, with students at the Homeless Awareness Sleepout.

Wednesday night, March 31, students in Commons 251, taught by psychology professor Melinda Dukes, met on a practice field at Tusculum College to hold a "Homelessness Awareness Sleepout."

In preparation for the class, Dukes held a lottery, which established various levels of homelessness comfort. Five students were allowed to bring cars to sleep in. Five could bring sleeping bags, five could bring a specified item of food, and five were allowed to bring only the clothes on their back.

After an afternoon of hard rain, the ground was soaked, but the students met the adventure with high spirits and a hearty sense of realism.

"We realize we can only start to understand what homelessness is really like," one student said. "After this is over, we can go back to our rooms, put some popcorn in a microwave, and curl up with a movie."

Curling up instead in boxes and under donated tarps, the students suffered through a steady downpour for several hours before Dukes dismissed the class in the waning hours of the morning.

"We were mainly interested in how people would respond to the idea that there were 'homeless people' in their midst," Dukes reflected. "We were frankly pleased with the response. Several faculty and staff people came to bring us donations, and almost every student had someone come for them."

In preparation for the activity, the students read "Not all of us are Saints" by D. Hilfiker, which tells the author's story of personal, spiritual growth as he lived with and provided medical services to the poor and homeless of inner city Washington, DC. The text was supplemented with numerous readings concerning the homeless and the nature of service. In addition, all students engaged in providing service to Good Samaritan Ministries. This agency operates a day shelter, food bank, referral, employment assistance, emergency relief assistance, etc. to the poor and homeless in Johnson City.

"I was a little uneasy about this sleepout," Dukes said. "It was really the students' idea. I sensed that the students were building enthusiasm for working with and increasing their understanding of the homeless. I mentioned this during class and they came up with this idea of a Homeless Awareness Sleepout."

Dukes said that every class member participated in the exercise. They include Trevor Adams, Christine Besemere, Katy Bonjour, Nick Brown, Leander Farrington, John Harmon, Frank Jones, Natash Jones, Celeste Massey, Ben Molner, Travis Roy, John Schena, Andy Smith, Tracy Spell, Kurt Williams, Cassidy Williams, Jeremy Zevetchin, Steven Darnell, & Derek Keefe.